River Blackwater, Essex - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The River Blackwater is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It rises in the northwest of Essex as the River Pant and flows to Bocking, near Braintree

Braintree, Essex

Braintree is a town of about 42,000 people and the principal settlement of the Braintree district of Essex in the East of England. It is northeast of Chelmsford and west of Colchester on the River Blackwater, A120 road and a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line.Braintree has grown contiguous...

, from where its name changes to the Blackwater. Its course takes it near Stisted

Stisted

Stisted is a civil parish, Church of England parish, and former manor near Braintree, Essex, England. Andrew Motion, a former Poet Laureate, was raised there.-History of Stisted:...

, and then via Bradwell Juxta Coggeshall and Coggeshall

Coggeshall

Coggeshall is a small market town of 3,919 residents in Essex, England, situated between Colchester and Braintree on the Roman road of Stane Street , and intersected by the River Blackwater. It is known for its almost 300 listed buildings and formerly extensive antique trade...

and near Witham where it is joined by the River Brain

River Brain

The River Brain is a river in Essex, England that gives its name to the town of Braintree, though in fact Braintree lies on a low ridge between the Brain and the River Blackwater. Above Braintree it is known as Pods Brook. The brook rises near the village of Bardfield Saling...

. Passing Maldon

Maldon, Essex

Maldon is a town on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon district and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.Maldon is twinned with the Dutch town of Cuijk...

it reaches the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

at West Mersea

West Mersea

West Mersea is a small town in the Colchester borough of Essex, England. It is the larger of two settlements on Mersea Island, located south east of Colchester. The smaller settlement on the island is the village of East Mersea....

. The River Chelmer

River Chelmer

The River Chelmer is a river that flows entirely through the county of Essex, England.The source of the river is near Debden Green, a village near Thaxted. The source of the River Can is also nearby. The River Chelmer flows past Thaxted, south through the district of Uttlesford around the...

(which is a canal at that point) meets the River Blackwater near Langford

Langford, Essex

Langford is a village on the Dengie peninsula close to Maldon in the English county of Essex. It is part of the Wickham Bishops and Woodham ward of the Maldon district....

. Some of the water flows over Beeleigh weir and some flows down the canal. At Heybridge flood water from the canal flows over a weir at the site of the old Heybridge mill and down the original course of the Blackwater (now known as Heybridge Creek) before passing through a sluice gate into the tidal Blackwater Estuary

Blackwater Estuary

The Blackwater Estuary is the estuary of the Essex River Blackwater in south-east England.Oysters have been harvested from the estuary for more than a thousand years and there are remains of Anglo-Saxon era fish traps. At the head of the estuary is the town of Maldon, which is a centre of salt...

at Maldon.

History

One of the most famous Viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

battles in Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, the Battle of Maldon

Battle of Maldon

The Battle of Maldon took place on 10 August 991 near Maldon beside the River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Aethelred the Unready. Earl Byrhtnoth and his thegns led the English against a Viking invasion. The battle ended in an Anglo-Saxon defeat...

, took place directly beside the river in 991. The Vikings were successful in battle against the Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

, claiming victory in this Dark Age battle.

The Blackwater was a source of fish and oysters for the town of Maldon during the Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

occupation. The remains of Saxon

Anglo-Saxons

fish traps were discovered in the river in the 1990s.

During the winter of 1776 the Blackwater froze from Maldon to Osea island, a distance of some four miles. The ice trapped fishing and cargo carrying vessels and blocked any imports of coal, oil, wool to Maldon.

In 1793 the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation

Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation

The Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation is the canalisation of the Rivers Chelmer and Blackwater in Essex, in the east of England. The navigation runs for from Springfield Basin in Chelmsford to the sea lock at Heybridge Basin near Maldon. It was opened in 1797, and remained under the control of...

Company was formed by act of Parliament. Over the next four years, the company built a navigation from Chelmsford

Chelmsford

Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...

to meet the tidal estuary of the River Blackwater in Colliers Reach at the place that's today called Heybridge Basin (after the canal basin there).

The burgers of the borough of Maldon

Maldon, Essex

refused to allow the canal to pass through their borough, so the company routed it just outside the borough boundary, which is why it ended up at Colliers Reach, rather than at Maldon. From Chelmsford, the navigation mainly followed the course of the River Chelmer until it reached Beeleigh, near Maldon. Then it followed the course of the River Blackwater to Heybridge, and from there via a canal to the sea lock at Colliers Reach.

A weir connected the navigation to the tidal river Blackwater at Heybridge, where it powered a water mill. Heybridge mill was demolished after severe flooding in this area in 1953, but the mill house still stands. The river itself (now known as Heybridge Creek here) was dammed between Heybridge Hall and Potman marsh in 1954 as part of a programme of flood defence improvements. Most of the water flowing down the River Blackwater nowadays flows over a weir at Beeleigh and along the tidal section of the Chelmer before rejoining the Blackwater just below the Hythe at Maldon.

In 1865 HM Government passed the Maldon Harbour Act authorized construction of a wharf on the west side of the southern end of Heybridge Creek on land belonging to the Great Eastern Railway

Great Eastern Railway

The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...

Company, and improving the channels of the rivers Chelmer

River Chelmer

and Blackwater.

Ten thousand pounds were spent on widening, deepening and improving the river from the Fullbridge to just downriver from Herring's Point, near Heybridge Basin. After this, vessels had to pay a toll of 3 pence a ton if they were under 50 tons register or 6 pence a ton if they were over that.

A medieval 5-arched stone bridge over the River Blackwater at Heybridge (from which that village got its name) was replaced in 1870 by a 2-arched brick one. That bridge was at the north end of the Causeway, at its junction with Heybridge Street and Holloway Road, but the bridge there now is hardly distinguishable as such.

Industry

The Maldon Crystal Salt Company produces crystalline sea salt

Sea salt

Sea salt, salt obtained by the evaporation of seawater, is used in cooking and cosmetics. It is historically called bay salt or solar salt...

by traditional panning techniques from the waters of the Blackwater.

Osea Island

Osea Island is an inhabited island in the estuary of the River Blackwater, Essex, East England. It is approximately in size and is connected to the north bank of the river by a causeway, covered at high water....

is situated on the Blackwater Estuary, north of Steeple

Steeple, Essex

Steeple is a small village in south Essex. It is situated just east of Maylandsea and Mayland, on the southern side of the River Blackwater estuary.A hamlet, within the village of Steeple, on the banks of the River Blackwater is called Stansgate....

Northey Island

Northey Island is an island in the estuary of the River Blackwater, Essex. It is linked to the south bank of the river by a causeway, covered for two hours either side of high tide. The island is approximately 2km to the east of Maldon, Essex and 2km to the west of Osea Island.The whole island and...

owned by the National Trust, is approximately one mile to the west of Osea Island. It is part of an ancient landscape and is connected to the shore by a tidal causeway. It is believed by some to have been the site of the Battle of Maldon

Battle of Maldon

in 991 AD and offers birdwatching opportunities.

History

Industry

Osea Island

Northey Island

See also